The Fish Tank (SYOC!)
by EclipseWindstorm
Summary: Everyone thought that once the Perdido Beach Anomaly had disappeared, the trouble was gone and it could be dismissed as a freak happening. But after another dome appears over Karamat, Colorado, it becomes obvious that it isn't the case. As the kids inside the Dome struggle to survive, the scientists outside of it have to try to piece together a mystery. SYOC open!
1. Introduction and SYOC Form

**Author's Note:** Hello everybody. Thank you for signing the soul-stealing contract; I sincerely appreciate your cooperation. This is created almost entirely due to my boredom.

Now to get down to things!

This is a submit-your-own-character fic (about half the characters will be SYOC, the other half will be mine) about the world of Gone, in which a secondary dome comes down to cover the town of Karamat. Located in the mountains of Colorado, next to Karamat Reservoir, Karamat is a small, pristine mountain town where everyone knows everyone and crimes are unheard of. However, Karamat's main source of jobs is at the Matthew Wurst Center for Troubled Kids, an "alternate source" of therapy for kids that have committed crimes, both nonviolent and violent. This is included in the Dome with about thirty more kids (minimum age is thirteen), so there will be some insane kids running around. Karamat has a King Soopers store, a Shell gas station with a minimart, a Natural Grocers, and a store called Frank's Gardening Supplies. It also has a nail-painting salon, an ACE Hardware, a Subway, a Lifetime Fitness gym, and a store called Zoe Dipper's Writing Nook, which sells writing supplies. Comment if you think a different business needs to be added/ subtracted- I'm trying to come up with a realistic and interesting line-up. The town is about fifteen minutes away from a larger town where they can normally buy more supplies, but the dome will prevent that from happening. The town normally has about 1000 residents, but after the dome (age 14), there will be 120 kids left over. It has its own, K-12, school (sorry for the massive infodump), but a lot of the kids attend a different high school, so ninth grade and up is pretty empty.

Without further ado, I bring you the **CHARACTER FORMS:**

**DOME CHARACTER**

(Use for everyone under the Dome)

**Name:** Also include a nickname if your character has one of you want them to have one.

**Age:** If they're fourteen, include their month/day birthday if you can.

**Place of Residence:** (Karamat/ MWCTK/ Out-of-Town)

**Parents: **Their names, jobs, and a few traits about them.

**Relationship with parents: **

**Any siblings?:** Names, ages, if they're in the Dome.

**Relationship with siblings:**

**How many friends?:** Also names if they're in the Dome.

**Why are they in MWCTK?:** (If MWCTK)

**Did they "do" it?:** As in, are they guilty of the act that got them sent to MWCTK?

**Why were they visiting?:** (If out-of-town)

**What are they like socially?:** (Everyone)

**What do they look like?:**

**Are there any defining traits?:** e.g. "has autism"

**What do they like?:** e.g. chocolate ice cream

**What do they dislike?:**

**What are their hobbies?:**

**What role would they ideally play in the story?:**

**What is their personality:**

**Other:**

**OUTSIDE CHARACTER**

(Use for adults, scientists, and everyone not in Karamat)

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Connection to the Dome:**

**Where they live:**

**Job:**

**What are they like socially?:** (Everyone)

**What do they look like?:**

**Are there any defining traits?:** e.g. "has autism"

**What do they like?:** e.g. chocolate ice cream

**What do they dislike?:**

**What are their hobbies?:**

**What role would they ideally play in the story?:**

**What is their personality:**

**Other:**

**RULES**

I can take about twenty characters for various roles, but not all of them will be major.

NO MARY SUES.

Characters less than about four will have less coverage because seriously, who expects three-year-old Bobby to go kill the villain with a gun?

Please don't copy existing characters from Gone. This includes "Please bring back Caine he's so awesome!". It also includes filling out an application for Caine. Basically, just don't mention Caine.

Don't name any characters Sam, Caine, Brianna, Dekka, Computer Jack (regular Jack is OK though), Drake, Lana… You get the picture, right?

Make your characters interesting, but please no characters so flawed they would have died already. Don't make them allergic to hydrogen. Just don't.

If your character is accepted, I'll message you. If you have something you want your character to do, message me. But I will use all characters however I see fit.

No little Johnnys who had two parents killed by Saw, his foster parents murdered in a gang fight, five life-threatening conditions, a chopped-off left arm by a serial killer, a tortured brother, and who is in constant pain due to x condition. In other words, no chronically troubled characters before the story even begins.

FOOTNOTES:

MWCTK is Matthew Wurst Center for Troubled Kids.

The Dome is the same as what the Perdido Beach Anomaly/ FAYZ was, but now that it's happened twice, it's a general phenomenon.


	2. Dome Day: Part One

**Author's Note:** EVERYONE WHO SUBMITTED A CHARACTER! I just realized what I did wrong, in the huge form. I did not even mention if they have any powers! So, please add if you want them to have any powers, and if so, what they are. Also, sorry if I get anything wrong, but I'm an idiot. No joke. I have a cousin in Iowa. Cousin read Gone. Cousin borrowed rest of books. Cousin's mother took them BACK TO IOWA. I will kill cousin's mother.

Seriously, she took Harry Potter books, too. My home is not a library. They do not belong in Iowa...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gone. I am not Michael Grant. If you say I am, you are lying. So there.

* * *

><p><strong>Cayden was with<strong> his little brother. Danni Wedin was nine, with short, brown hair plastered to his forehead. He was sweating and had a fever. His mother thought he had the flu, but the doctor said it was just a cold, nothing to worry about.

He gave Danni a bottle of water and pressed an ice pack to his forehead, trying to keep him calm so he didn't wake his mother, Karla Wedin.

"Where's Mommy?" Danni asked.

Cayden shrugged. He hadn't thought about it, just went through the motions of caring for Danni. He was homeschooled, and he didn't need to worry about her for that.

"She's probably asleep," he said. Karla- she insisted on being called that- enjoyed sleeping in, but Cayden was a morning person.

"Can I see her?"

"If you're really quiet," Cayden said, knowing Karla was about to be rudely awakened.

Danni got off the couch and tugged on Cayden's hand. "Come on," he said, pointing up the stairs of their house. Cayden followed Danni up the stairs.

Danni stopped in front of Karla's bedroom. Cayden knocked twice on the door, then opened it. It swung open with a creak.

The room was empty. Cayden walked into the bedroom. The bed looked laid-in, but Karla always neatly made it. He touched the place where she had laid, and it was warm.

"Mommy!" Danni yelled.

"Karla?" Cayden echoed.

"I don't think she's here," Cayden said. David walked into the room as he said it. At four, David was up to Danni's hip, and said whatever came to his mind.

"Did Mommy run away?" he said.

Danni looked horrified. "Did she?" he asked.

"No," Cayden said. "I'm sure there's a rational explanation for this. She probably had to go in early for work."

"What does rational mean?" David asked.

"It means it makes sense, Davey."

"Everything makes sense! That's what my teacher said about sci- sci-"

"Science?" Cayden asked.

"Yeah!"

"No, Davey. Not everything makes sense," Cayden said.

* * *

><p><strong>Carium was walking <strong>through the hallway to get to Math when the door to Math spilled open. Fast-talking kids spilled out of it, and Carium could hear snippets of their conversation.

"They're all gone!"

"I saw him disappear!"

"It was just like… poof!"

"I know, I saw it, idiot!"

"Is it like that California thing?"

"God, I hope not! Everyone died there!"

Carium, holding his papers for the teacher, suddenly felt like an idiot. Sixth graders… God, they were stupid sometimes.

But… Adults didn't just disappear. It was fundamentally impossible.

Another class left their room, though, and another, until he was surrounded by kids.

He was taller than all of them, and he could see over their heads. The whole hallway had become a mess, with them finding the nearest person they knew and clinging onto them for comfort.

He tried to walk towards his class, to see his teacher, but couldn't get through. The traffic was moving towards the front door, and he had to go that way.

He saw the door once he turned the corner. Kids were spilling out of the school every which way, and it was an effort to just hold his ground for fifteen minutes until most of the school was empty. Then he set off, back to his class. To his surprise, they were all still there, arguing. Everyone turned to look at him as he entered.

"What do we do?" one kid asked him. He shrugged.

"I was just delivering papers. Everyone left. What happened to the teacher?"

"Miss Plum disappeared. Gone."

"And she hasn't come back?"

"No, man, she ain't coming back. We're on our own here."

"Like the California dome?"

"Yeah. Like the California dome."

* * *

><p><strong>Elizabeth Schwartz was <strong>worried about her little sister. They had been stuck in traffic and were just approaching the high school where she was going to shadow at when the Dome appeared. It was gray, like the one on the news, and they were going way too fast. The car next to hers kept going, and the driver was gone. That was when she realized that her car's driver was also gone and had managed to steer it out of the way.

Now, though, she was ten miles from the K-12 and she didn't know where on Earth her little sister was, if this really was a Dome. Were they even _on_ Earth?

She was on the meadow, with car wrecks piling up next to her, mainly commuters headed to the next town over to work. They had finally stopped coming, and she heard a baby crying.

She jumped up at that and followed the sound to an old blue Chevy. The baby was in the back window, and the front of the car had been squashed.

Elizabeth took a piece of metal that was lying on the road from some car and approached the car. She climbed into the back of it and looked in through the window. The baby was on the right side.

She climbed down and looked at the left-side window. It was already cracked, and shouldn't be too hard to shatter.

She brought the bar back, then forwards, onto the window. It cracked more.

She repeated the motion and the window shattered in. She ducked, but no glass hit her in the head. The window was jagged and covered in shards of glass. She scraped it clean with the bar and reached into the car.

The seats, too, were covered in fragments of glass, and she took the bar and attempted to scrape it clean. Then she put her hand down and immediately cut it with the glass. She reached forwards and touched the baby. It was bloody, and she looked at her hand in surprise before picking it up and sliding it out. She examined her hurt hand- it had a fairly deep cut, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a few stitches- and the baby. It seemed a lot more injured, with an arm that looked snapped and blood pouring out of his leg. He wailed at her.

She started walking back, along the roads.

* * *

><p><strong>Mikah and Lucas <strong>were the only two kids awake in their four-bed luxury prison cell. They were watching the flat-screen TV, surprised that the wake-up bell hadn't been rang but not complaining. Their cellmates, David and Edward, were annoying brats who thought they didn't deserve to be there.

Lucas reached for the volume remote.

"Don't turn it up," Mikah whispered. "Ed'll wake up."

Lucas sighed. "We can't let them control us!"

"Control us? I'm just sick of their shit," Mikah said.

At that very moment, though, Ed entered. "Hey, little buddies."

"Hello, Ed," Lucas said, defeated.

"Where are the adults?" Ed asked.

"Adults?" Mikah shrugged. "Maybe they're just letting us sleep in."

"You know them, why would they do that?" Lucas asked.

"Is the door unlocked?" Ed asked.

"We didn't check," Mikah said. He meant for it to be sarcastic, but Lucas missed that.

"Why not?" He pressed on the door. To his surprise, it swung open easily. He immediately shut it.

"You know what this means?" Ed asked.

"What does it mean?" Lucas asked.

"We're free!" Ed announced.

"How are we free?" It was David.

"The door is unlocked," Ed said.

David ran over to the door and pushed it. He yelped when it opened, then ran outside.

"Come on!" He encouraged. Ed followed him, followed by Lucas. They both celebrated outside. Mikah was the last to leave, and he was the only one that was suspicious.

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed, pointing at the gray wall. "What the hell is that?"

Lucas shrunk back from the wall, but David strode confidently to it. "That, my friends, is the ticket to our freedom. Whatever it is, it's cut the power." He walked to it with his hand held out.

"Maybe you shouldn't touch it," Ed suggested. David ignored him and reached out. The second his hand touched it, he jerked it back.

"Dammit, that hurt!" he swore, examining his hand. Ed pressed forwards, touching it. He, too, examined his hand.

"It shocked me!" Ed protested.

"Nah, it's more of a burning," David said.

"What is that?"

It was a boy that Mikah recognized as Shane Tucker.

"Shane, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was at rec, then everyone poofed."

"Poofed?"

"They disappeared. I was afraid I was the only person left."

"We're here, too," Lucas said. "Don't worry, Shane."

* * *

><p><strong>Questions! <strong>From here on out, there will be two questions with each chapter. Answer them in the reviews you're writing, right?

**Do you like movie theater popcorn?**

**Which one of the new characters is your favorite so far?**


	3. Dome Day: Part Two

**Author's Note!** Updates will hopefully be every Sunday, except for the 7th most likely because I'll be on vacation. And I bring you… Even more introductions! Next week the characters will (hopefully) have more to say and do. One week until SYOCs are incorporated! And just for good measure, Jill has no relation to the Siren.

**Recap:** The Dome has come down. Currently, the kids are mainly having a meeting in the town square, with three kids on stage.

**Disclaimer:** I am writing fanfiction about my own work.

* * *

><p><strong>Chase Parker's brother <strong>was an Army Ranger. Her older sister was a professor at MIT. Her father was a retired engineer. Her mother was a brain surgeon. Chase had large roles to fill in every aspect of her life, and the Dome couldn't have came at a better time. In fat, it had been the answer to her prayers to have no adults and no expectations.

She knew how the old FAYZ had turned out, though, and this time, they might be worse off. Where the old FAYZ had crops, they had a gardening store. They also had an arrangement of useless stores, and food that was sure to be stolen in the panic that followed. She was surprised that the kids were standing in an orderly herd in the town square.

The three kids that wanted to be the leaders had finally stopped discussing among themselves, and the boy in the T-shirt was standing up front, holding a megaphone from ACE Hardware.

"Hello, everyone," he said in a deep voice. "My name is Robert, and this is Jamie and Max-" he gestured at the girl and the fancily dressed boy- "And we are gathered here today because a second Perdido Beach Anomaly, also known as the FAYZ, has taken place. We have decided that we will try to do better than the kids in the old FAYZ have done. The first step is to elect a leader."

"Although us, on this stage, are interested in being the leader," Max said, "You can vote for anyone. Jamie will be handing out slips of paper. On them, you should write the name of the kid you would like to vote for. Robert will be along with a top hat in which to put them once you have finished."

Jamie descended the stage and started handing out slips of paper. Chase put her hands in her pockets and waited for her to get there. The little boy on the stage was wailing now that Robert had left, and Max was attempting to comfort him.

In the chaos that was the kids talking amongst themselves, nobody saw if anything special happened that night. In hindsight, it had probably started then, but Chase didn't realize it. All she saw were yellow orbs, hovering just in her peripheral vision. She blinked and they were gone.

Dismissing it as the hallucination of a stressed-out teenager, Chase waited for the paper slips to get to her.

* * *

><p><strong>Riley Foxx felt <strong>the ground shake an inch beneath his feet. He was fifteen, just outside the Dome, and there to visit the Dome and his younger sister, Jill Foxx. The Dome was opaque, so he couldn't see through it. The minor earthquake was barely acknowledged by the scared watchers and the police in charge of supervising the whole thing. Riley wondered if Jill could see inside the dome. She was afraid of the dark.

Riley leaned up, against it. Images of the Perdido Beach survivors flashed through his mind. The girl on the Today Show who had written LOL after saying she had killed people. The boy burning a toddler.

"Can you believe it?" a young girl asked. "Twice?" she said.

Her mother appeared to be in tears. "No," she whispered. "Why does it have to be her?"

"Don't worry, Abby will be okay."

A few feet away, a soldier was talking on his phone. "Mr. Wessner, I'm not sure you understand me here. I am telling you that your daughter is trapped in an impenetrable dome, and you say _good?"_

Riley still felt like what he was touching was impossible. Barriers didn't plop themselves down in thin air. It totally violated the laws of physics!

His mother sobbed away from the Dome. "Jill," she whispered, "Come home. Please."

* * *

><p><strong>Cayan and his <strong>extended family were on vacation, driving to Breckenridge, when they decided to stop and get gas in Karamat. His cousins were in the same car that he was in, as well as his Aunt Sharie and Uncle Dennis. His parents were driving a second car, one that had better fuel economy. Cayan had wanted to ride with his cousin, Matt Neema, even if he didn't like Danny, Charlie, or Sharon Neema.

About two hours ago, Aunt Sharie, Uncle Dennis, and Sharon had disappeared. Charlie was left sucking his pacifier, and Danny, at six, was confused. So was Cayan, despite being twice his age.

The Shell gas station still had all the cars in it, but the two other people that had been getting gas were just… gone.

"It's magic!" Danny Neema exclaimed for easily the thirtieth time that day, as they walked down the road, determined to get to Breckenridge, about 20 miles away, one way or another.

"No, Danny, it isn't magic," Matt said, easily for the thirtieth time that day.

"It has to be!"  
>"Magic doesn't exist," Matt said.<p>

"Be nice," Cayan hissed. He took a sip of water from the bottles they had stolen.

Matt frowned. "I consider not telling lies to be nice, Cayan," he said.

"What does that mean?" Danny asked. "Cayan?"

Cayan sighed. "Relax, Danny," he said. "It's nothing. Just focus on your walking."

"But I'm bored! Tell me a story!" Danny complained.

"I can't right now, Danny. Sorry."

"I'm not moving until you tell me a story!" Danny sat down.

Cayan picked Danny up.

* * *

><p><strong>Reed's first thought <strong>when the Dome came down was grateful. He was in the counselor's office, being told that he needed to put some effort into his schoolwork. He already knew multiplication, and wished she would just go away.

And then she did.

Reed yelped and backed away from where she used to be, then stopped.

"Ms. Brady?" he asked. "Ms. Brady? Where are you?"

He heard voices.

"They're gone!" one had proclaimed.

So Reed had left. Slipped out the back door. And he had been gone.

And he had gone to his house to see his mother. But she had been gone, too.

He had looked at her workplace, the Writing Nook. He had looked for his father, but found the barrier. And Reed was alone.

He had locked himself in his room, then, with the book he was reading, and gotten lost in the text. For twenty minutes, he had forgotten about the Dome and his parents.

But lightbulbs didn't last forever, and his burned out, so he left to get one from ACE Hardware. He had twenty dollars, and the fact that the adults were gone hadn't occurred to him.

When it was empty, he just took one from the shop. He saw the Town Hall, though, and someone was there, so Reed walked over.

Someone who definitely wasn't the mayor was there, sitting on the steps.

* * *

><p><strong>Tanner Cox had <strong>his fourteenth birthday on the day the Dome came. As his reward, he was going to work with his mother, who worked at the WN.

Once she had disappeared, he had gone to the plaza, guessing that it was where anyone would be if there was anyone. Instead, he had been told to come back an hour later.

The mayor-woman had looked at him and said one word.

"Garbage."

It took Tanner, who had thought that maybe she liked him, a second to realize that it was his job, not a description of him. It was still sad, though. He had never wanted to be a garbageman, but didn't want to complain in this strange new world. "Come back at ten in the morning tomorrow. Next!" the girl snapped. Tanner didn't know her name.

Tanner backed away from the hall and left, going back to his house. His parents weren't there, and neither was his older brother.

"Mom! Dad!" he yelled, knowing it was pointless. There were no adults, that was what the kids had been saying.

"Mom! Dad!" he yelled louder.

"Mom?"

* * *

><p><strong>James was technically <strong>too young to be in the square. They had told everyone eight and under to leave, but if the little boy on stage was staying, then so was he. He had the power, and nobody could make him leave. He clenched his teeth in determination, but stopped when they began to hurt. He put his hand to his face and sucked the pain away from them, holding it in his hand until there was someone he didn't like to give it to.

James was young enough that the world was still evil and good, with a black-and-white distinction, but he was old enough that he didn't feel certain that everyone he knew was in the white. He had already voted for his big sister, Michela, to be the leader. He was afraid she might be too young at fifteen, but knew she was the best leader ever.

Come to think of it, he didn't know why she hadn't came yet. He didn't care that much, though. No Michela meant that he could stay up all night eating candy if he wanted to, but he didn't think he would because he would be too tired.

James King waited as they counted the votes up on the stage. But he soon grew bored and wriggled out of the crowd of kids. He decided to go home and eat candy. Even if he got tired too easily to stay up all night, he could still cram his mouth full of sugar and jump up and down like a rabbit all day.

James ran to his house. It was only about ten minutes by foot from the park, and he had walked there even on super-cold days.

When he arrived, he was shocked. The glass on the windows was cracked, and he heard kids inside it whooping.

James was afraid of them. His parents had said to not talk to strangers, and he didn't know them. So they were strangers.

James turned and ran back the way he had came.

* * *

><p><strong>Colin was barely <strong>old enough to stay in the meeting, and he took pleasure in his nine-year-old freedom. It as his birthday, and his wish- no more parents!- seemed to have been answered. But why were people in charge? His freedom seemed to be short-lived.

He took the pink Post-It note they had given him and a pencil from school and carefully wrote his own name on it. He wanted to be the leader.

Afterwards, he struck up a conversation with the older kid next to him. "Hey," Colin said. The kid looked at him.

"Hi," he said.

"I'm Colin, what's your name?"

"Mikey."

"How old are you? I'm nine. Today was my birthday!"

"Happy birthday, Colin."

"Thank you! I wished my parents would disappear and they did!"

"Okay."

"Isn't that cool?"

"Yes." Colin didn't understand how Mikey wasn't impressed.

* * *

><p><strong>Kira was close <strong>to the stage when the new leader was announced. They did it slowly and systematically, reading off each name and how many votes they had gotten.

"With six votes, Maria Lethbrange. With six votes, Kaya Ibbie. With six votes, Dwayne Matthew. With six votes, Matt O'Neill. With seven votes, Abraham Mattens. With seven votes, Max Keyon. With seven votes, Lucy Thicke. With eight votes, Pierce Jacobs. With ten votes, Christopher Jackal. In third place with 13 votes, Jackson Parker. In second place with 17 votes, Robert Stewart. And in first place, with 26 votes, Jamie Dayo!"

Max seemed happy despite being eliminated, but Robert stormed off the stage in a rage, carrying the younger boy in his arms. "Thank you so much!" Jamie said.

"Now, I know you all have a lot of questions, and I have a lot of answers to give you. First off, I know we're going to have a lot of issues. First among those is food. Please bring any food in your house to King Soopers by Wednesday. If you need it, you can consume small amounts of it, but please do not eat that much. Second is keeping the peace. We will have about ten kids in charge of being police officers, who will also help out with other jobs. In addition to that, we need ten kids to work in the daycare and ten more to work in the hospital, which will double as a pharmacy. Kids nine and older can take care of younger kids. Please do not enter a house until it has been searched, which twenty kids will start out doing. After that, they will switch to gardening, taking care of water, rations, and any other jobs that need doing. We feel that kids nine and over can do most of the work. Would anyone like to volunteer to be the chief of police?"

Three boys raised their hands.

"Excellent. You three report to the police station afterwards. Would anyone like to be their deputies?"

Eight more volunteered.

"Great. You also should report to the police station. Who would like to be the daycare manager?"

Two kids.

"And who wants to work in the daycare?"

Five more kids.

"Report to the daycare after this, please. Who wants to be the hospital leader?"

Kira volunteered for it, along with three others.

"Excellent. Report to the hospital after this, along with hospital workers- raise your hands up high!"

Four.

"The remainder of you, please come to the Town Hall at least an hour later to get a job. Kay?"

Kira already hated the new ruler.

* * *

><p><strong>Alena Wessner was <strong>fourteen years old when the Dome came. Her hair was dyed electric blue and her eyes were gray, with flecks of brown in them. She was tall and skinny, and on Dome Day, she wore a thin Disneyland Pluto T-shirt and a pair of jeans. She was from Manhattan, New York, and was being shipped to the youth correction facility, which everyone called MWCTK, evidently, for a series of thefts culminating in a joyride in a hotwired Ferrari.

She had committed the crime, and knew she had to pay the time. Her parents had never liked her, and she was an only child, so when the Dome came, she had nothing, or more accurately no one, to lose.

She was in a bus driving on the freeway when it came. She was in it with four older kids, headed for MWCTK with her. When the Dome appeared, though, she was left alone.

Alena was holding on to the ceiling pole with one hand and leaning against the side of the bus. When the driver disappeared, he had just turned onto the road to MWCTK. Alena was lucky. She was seated near the front of the bus, and there was nobody coming to hit the bus, even though it was slow.

Alena ran forwards and sat in the driver's seat. She pressed down on the brake pedal until the bus stopped, then looked behind her. Cars were barrelling down the freeway, their drivers missing. Alena shook her head and turned her attention to the task at hand: getting away from MWCTK. She didn't know what happened, only that everyone had disappeared.

For a second, she thought she was the only person on Earth. The thought was not a sad one. Then she realized that it was impossible. She saw the DOme, rearing up, in the distance.

More impossible than that?

_Yeah,_ Alena thought, _that would be me getting what I want._

Alena decided to stay in the bus. She carefully pulled it forwards, up the road, until there was a small turnaround spot. She edged the bus around until it was facing away from MWCTK, away from her punishment.

She pressed down the gas pedal. She slowly pulled it down the road, then waited ten minutes to make sure all the cars had stopped if they were going to. Alena knew that she couldn't just throw them out of her way, in case people were in them, but she knew most of them were empty, and it was very tempting.

Alena pulled the bus onto the highway and started driving it. Then, realizing that the keys were in the ignition of almost all the cars, she slid away from the driver's seat and examined the controls, looking at the mess of buttons.

Alena looked out of the windows, making sure that nobody was in the way. When she saw that it was clear, she raised her right hand and sent a beam of power through the doors, blasting them open. They were slightly melted, and she made sure to avoid the doors themselves as she jumped down.

She walked to a white Ford F-350 with the key in Drive. She made sure to put her seatbelt on before steering it off the road, to a place she had seen from the bus.

* * *

><p><strong>Questions!<strong> Answer 'em!

**Winter vs. summer.**

**Jamie. Good or bad?**

**What characters should see more screen time? **

**What characters should go die in a hole?**


	4. Dome Day: Part Three

**It's Alive! **Yep, your SYOC characters will be introduced after all! And for those who are asking after the Author's Note of Doom bumped it (it was deleted now), yes, you still can submit a character. In fact, submit a main villain. PLEASE. I spent two weeks trying to think of one and fell flat on my face. Sorry if I got any of the facts about them wrong. I'm writing this late at night, after all. :P I promise the short little POVs will be gone soon. Right now, I just want to have a little section with each character in it. And a fact that seems to be related to my bad choice of names: Jamie is a girl. That is all.

**Recap:** Jamie won the election and handed out jobs to kids. Elsewhere, various kids are spread around the Dome.

**Disclaimer:** I own everything except for Gone. Why won't you give me it, Michael Grant?!

* * *

><p><strong>Arielle Jones was <strong>unsure if the new leader could manage the town. She thought that they had good intentions, but didn't know if they could handle managing all of the kids, dealing with food and water, and making sure that the younger kids were okay, especially if they had to worry about kids with powers. And assigning other unproven kids to do it might not be a good idea, since they might freak out. And people wouldn't be happy if they were forced to work.

The minute the MWCTK doors had opened, Arielle had left the building and headed for Karamat. She had wanted to see her parents. Once she had seen the Dome, though, she had known that there was no point in looking for them.

Kids were starting to leave now that Jamie had left the stage. They were talking excitedly, and nobody seemed to understand the gravity of the situation yet. Sure, it was all fun and games, but what about when people killed each other? What about when the food ran out? Or when someone got injured? Would it be fun and games then?

What about when kids realized that there was nobody to watch over them?

Or when they missed their mothers?

Chaos would come in a matter of days. If it hadn't already. There was nothing to stop bullies and ten year olds who played Grand Theft Auto once.

* * *

><p>"<strong>There are people<strong> in my house!" James King announced to the new mayor.

"People in your house?" Jamie repeated.

"Yeah! And my mother said to not talk to strangers!"

"Well, that's very serious. We'll have to take care of that right away." Jamie put two fingers to her mouth and whistled the way James' father did to call dogs.

There were two kids standing around next to her. They jumped into the air and turned to face Jamie.

"Go with this little boy to his house," Jamie said. The kids waited for something.

"I'm the mayor," Jamie said. "Do as I say."

"Okay."

The girls walked over to James and one held his hand. "What's your name?" she asked. "I'm Elanor."

"I'm Sophie," the other girl said. "Where do you live?"

"Follow me," James said proudly. He knew the way to his house now.

"Okay," Elanor said.

"I'm gonna eat sugar all night!" James announced. "Isn't that cool?"

"You shouldn't do that. It's bad for you," Elanor said.

"What?" James asked. "My parents aren't here though!" James stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Elanor asked.

"My house is right down there."

"I'll go check it out," Sophie said.

"Be careful! They looked really mean!" James warned.

Sophie disappeared down James' cul de sac and Elanor straightened.

"Well, I'll just be leaving now," she said.

"Wait! What if there are bad people?"

"Sophie will fight them off," Elanor said. "Tell her I left, okay?"

Elanor walked off before James could protest further. Since his protector was gone, James walked over to his house. He gasped when he was it. The window was smashed and Sophie stood in the kitchen. His kitchen was trashed.

"Sophie!" James yelled.

"James, I'm so sorry!" Sophie said. "Your house is ruined. I didn't do it, though!"

_Ruined? His house was ruined?_

"Michaela didn't stop them?" James asked, disbelieving. "She would have stopped them! I want Mom! I want Dad!"

Sophie climbed out of his house through the broken window.

"I want Mom! I want Dad!"

She walked over to him, broken glass suck in one of her shoes.

"I want Mom! I want Dad!"

Sophie took the glass out of her shoe.

"I want Mom! I want Dad!"

Sophie crouched next to James and put her hand on his back.

"I want Mom! I want Dad!"

"So do I," Sophie said. "But when they come back, don't you want to be the man of the house?"

"Yeah," James sobbed.

"So let's go back into town and tell Jamie what happened. Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

><p><strong>Kira stood in<strong> front of the hospital doors with the others who had volunteered for it. There was Mikey Bullock, the nine-year-old, and his friend, Zeke Walters, who were talking about first person shooter video games that they were too young to play. Lucy and Ashley had volunteered together, too, and were talking about boys they thought were cute. Elsie Hannaway was reading a book she had had in her school backpack and sat against the wall. The only other volunteer Kira liked was Miranda. She was thirteen and had a younger brother at the police station. She shared Kira's doubt that the new leader could manage and doubt that she even really wanted to.

Jamie appeared from inside the hospital. "Hello, hello, and come in. You have applied for a very important job and lives are depending on you. Obviously, you will need a strong leader. It was you, you, and you who wanted to be the leaders, right?" Jamie pointed at Kira, Lucy, and Ashley.

"Yeah," Ashley said.

"Have you all had a chance to meet each other?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah," Lucy said.

"Excellent. I think we will determine the leaders after you've been working for a few weeks. Do any of you know anything about medicine?"

"I play a doctor video game!" Zeke offered.

"Great." Jamie seemed a little flustered. Maybe one of the other areas hadn't been so nice to deal with.

"My mother is a nurse," Ashley said.

"My dad is a doctor!" Mikey bragged.

"I know how to babysit, and that took some medical training," Lucy said.

"Excellent. So I just want you to arrange a schedule so that two people are here at all times in case someone needs medical help. So, yeah, do that." Jamie pushed her hair out of her face and hurried to leave the hospital.

"Geez, what was up her butt?" Mikey asked. Zeke laughed loud enough to make up for everyone else's silence.

"Well, let's get to work," Lucy said. "We should divide it up into three eight-hour shifts and someone will get a break every day. We could either use the traditional shifts or try to make them more equal. Either way, they shouldn't rotate or that would lead to reduced sleep quantity and quality."

"So basically, we have one from midnight to eight, one from eight to four, and one from four to midnight, and everyone works the same shift," Miranda said.

"Then someone is always off, though," Mikey said.

"No, one person has to always have a rotating shift," Miranda corrected.

"What?" Zeke asked.

Miranda took a doctor's notebook from a cabinet and the pen next to it. She sketched out a chart. "Okay, so this is the first shift. Who wants?"

"We do!" Mikey said.

"Right, Mikey and Zeke," Miranda said, writing their names in the first column.

"Who wants shift two?"

"We'll take it," Ashley offered. "I'll work with Lucy."

"Okay," Miranda said. "And for the last shift, me and Kira will take it."

So, the girl who had been reading would be rotating. Since her nose was still buried in Shakespeare, she wouldn't be complaining too much.

Miranda wrote in Kira and Elsie for that shift. "So we'll have six arrangements, with Elsie working for each worker once."

"Okay," Mikey said. "Shouldn't we ask Elsie or something?"

Kira headed over to Elsie to ask her. "Elsie," she said, lightly touching her on the shoulder.

"The Darkness is coming," Elsie muttered. "It's coming!"

* * *

><p><strong>Jay Delatorre headed<strong> to his house after the meeting in the town square. Reporting to town hall "at least an hour later" gave him a lot of flexibility, although he didn't really have anything to do. He knew his mother was gone- he had already checked, right after everyone in Karamat Middle School had disappeared. He figured that Sophia was gone, too, since she hadn't answered the door when Jay had knocked on it, and she normally answered the door. There wasn't anywhere else she could have gone, but it took until he saw how young everyone was that he had guessed that she, too, had disappeared.

Jay remembered what Jamie had said about collecting food. He went to his fridge to see how much food he had. There was the leftovers of a big plate of nachos and tacos, some vegetables, cookie dough, and chip dip. The freezer had much more food, and it was crammed with a selection of frozen meat, ice cream, and row after row of frozen entrees.

Jay was thinking about the first Dome. Like most of the kids in Karamat, Jay had been fascinated by the horrors inside the Dome. He had saved a still of Sam burning the girl and set it as his wallpaper to try to impress the other boys, but he had never thought of himself as a tough guy. Even though he took martial arts, he tried to be nice to other kids and not let his temper get the best of him.

He had enough food to last him maybe even a month, if he was lucky. He knew he was one of the more well-stocked of the kids, and those who weren't would panic and raid the store. They would be out of food soon, if the Dome stuck around as long as the past one, and they would die.

Jay gathered up most of the food that didn't need to be refrigerated in some bags. He would take it to the store tomorrow, hoping that Jamie would have a way to keep it safe from the others.

Outside, Jay heard yelling. He crossed the kitchen to the window and moved the shades. He saw a crowd of hooting third-graders shoving a little girl around. The girl was crying and the cute-faced boys were laughing like they were watching Spongebob or something.

Jay picked up the baseball bat his father's friend's kid had left lying around and grabbed it tightly in his right hand. He pushed the door open and the kids stopped and turned.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jay tried to sound stern and intimidating.

"We weren't doing nothing!" one of them squealed.

"Go home," Jay said. Three of the kids left but one stayed.

"Why do we listen to you?" the one that stayed said. "You ain't an adult!"

"What you're doing is wrong," Jay said. "You can't just hurt a little girl. It doesn't matter if I'm an adult. You shouldn't do that anyways."

"You can't tell me what to do!"

Jay raised the bat over his head and took a stomping step. The kid's eyes darted between Jay and the girl. The he turned and ran, sneakers flapping against the street.

Jay dropped the bat and it clattered down. Suddenly tired, he rubbed his eyes. It would just get worse. They needed someone kids trusted and respected.

* * *

><p><strong>Autumn Kailey grabbed<strong> Valentine's arm and pulled her into the utility closet. "In here," she whispered, shutting the door. "I have something I need to show you."

"What?" Valentine asked.

"Don't scream." Valentine doubted that it would be heard over the chaos of the outside hallways, where the boys were yelling at the top of their lungs.

Autumn sucked in a breath suddenly and Valentine wondered why. Then Valentine looked at Autumn's hands and saw that they were glowing. Autumn's eyes were closed and her mouth was pressed in a tight line. Valentine heard the kids outside and was glad that the world hadn't stopped.

_It was happening again. Kids were mutating, and animals would too._ Valentine wondered if it would all be the same.

She wondered who would try to take charge and who would be the bully. She wondered what side she should be on.

It had only been eight hours since the Dome had came down over Valentine, but every second seemed like an eternity. She couldn't win if she sat here, staring at her friend's hands. But she also was sure to lose if she didn't have allies on her side. And if right now she had one, that was better than none.

Autumn's hands faded to black once again, and the cabinet seemed darker than it had before, despite that the light sources were the same.

Autumn's face slowly came into focus. Her eyes were wide and excited. "What do you think?" she asked.

Valentine shrugged. "How long have you known?" she asked. Anger flared in Autumn's eyes, and it quickly faded away, but Valentine had seen it. She was mad at someone, and it was probably her. She had probably offended her by not being overawed.

"I've known for two weeks," Autumn said, the excitement gone from her voice, but Valentine wasn't listening to her. Outside the closet, she heard a conversation.

"Listen! Can you hear it?" Michael Forenzo asked. A different, deep voice, answered.

"No."

"It's a ringing sound!" Michael said.

"There isn't a sound."

"Can't you hear it?" Michael said. Valentine couldn't hear it, but she heard something else.

A scream, echoing down the halls.

* * *

><p><strong>Devin White-Rogers had<strong> locked herself in her house after the Dome had come down. She lay curled up in Quinton's bed and pulled the covers up, over her dreadlocks. She had made sure the house was empty, but now, tears came from her eyes and onto the soft covers. "Dad," she whispered, voice racked with tears. She knew that she couldn't lay curled up in her bed forever, but it didn't matter for now.

Devin finally got up and out of bed. The sun was low down now, below the trees. She went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face, rolling her hoodie's sleeves up so they didn't get soaked. She dried herself with the striped towel hanging in the bathroom and started down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks when she heard voices outside.

"Is Rory here?" an excited kid asked.

"No, but his weird kid sister probably is."

"She gives me the creeps, man!"

They must have been talking about Lily. She was horribly shy, and normally stayed locked in her room all day. When Devin had played basketball with Rory, she had seen Lily a few times. She really wasn't that bad.

"Dude, was Rory _fifteen?"_

Devin recognized the kids. One of them was Joey Fielder, and the other was Mike Poultik. Mike had seemed okay to Devin.

"No way, man, he was only fourteen. Right?"

"Come on, man, let's head, he's not here."

"You sure?" Devin crossed to the door, determined to open it. She had to leave the house, couldn't hide forever.

"Sure." The boys left and Devin opened the door. She gasped when she saw the skyline.

Smoke.

There was a fire in Karamat.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Pete! Pete, are<strong> you here?" Angel stopped moving for a second and listened. "Pete?"

She heard a wailing sound, mixed with coughing. "Pete!"

_Damn it, where was Kurt? Pete was his brother, too!_

"Kurt?" Pete asked, his voice raspy.

_I wish. He would probably know what to do when your house is on fire._ "Pete! Hang on, okay?"

"It's hot," Pete complained, his voice pitifully weak.

Pete's voice was coming from the right-hand door, the office. Where the flames were thicker. Just Angel's luck.

Angel opened the office door and was shocked. There was a dark shape on the floor that must have been Pete, and he was pinned down under a piece of the roof that had fallen on him. All around him, the desk and the nightstand was on fire.

"Pete?"

The shape stirred weakly on the floor. "Here," he whimpered. "Angel?"

Angel walked into the room, ducking a timber that seemed poised to fall the rest of the way. She crossed to Pete's side, the possibility of breathing actual air in all gone. She saw a window a few feet away with a half-melted frame. She grabbed a charred piece of log and threw it at the window, wanting anyone else to know they were in there.

The window shattered outwards and Angel saw a gasping crowd through the haze. She pushed against the roofing on Pete's leg. Pete moaned and rolled sideways, leaving his leg twisted behind him.

Angel, giving up on the roofing, crossed to the window and took a single breath of fresh air. "Hey!" she yelled. "A little help here?"

The kids turned to look at each other and laugh.

_Laugh? What are the assholes thinking, that this is a reality TV show and it's Wednesday Night?_

"Do you want a little boy to die?" Angel yelled. "Because he will if nobody helps!"

The kids looked at each other and shrugged.


	5. Day One

We will get to the story in a moment. But first, we bring you the one, the only, **Author's Note!** This chapter is called Day One. Dome Day was Day Zero. From here on out, I will try to remember this numbering system. Sorry about the delay on this chapter, I thought I had posted it last week, but oh well. Thanks for reviewing!

And, for those lovelies that are short-of-memory, I bring you the wonderful **Recap!** Jamie has decided that normal life will go on under the Dome with the kids working their new jobs. And I will provide you with longer sections and no introductions.

And now, the best **Disclaimer** that has ever existed: I do not own Gone. I am not Michael Grant, who does own Gone. And another disclaimer: This chapter contains swearing. From a nine-year-old.

* * *

><p><strong>There was an <strong>airplane on his roof. At least, that was what it sounded like.

Cayden rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed, trying to not wake up Danni. He knew that David would sleep soundly no matter where he was, but in addition to his fever, Danni was really freaked out and insisted on showing it.

Cayden got dressed by flashlight. They were still in their old home on the outskirts of Karamat. Cayden had been planning on sleeping until Danni woke up and then going to work at the police station.

He opened the screenless window and heard voices on his rooftop. "Crap," he whispered. He took his father's gun from the bedside table and slipped it into his belt.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" Cayden yelled, his head out the window. He heard hoots of laughter.

"Hey! Who's there?" Cayden pointed the gun at the air and fired. Nothing happened. He cursed and turned the safety off. "I have a gun!" he warned.

"Ooh! He has a gun!" a kid's voice mocked. Cayden fired the gun into the air.

"Get the bullet!" he heard. He looked down and saw two laughing nine-year-olds.

"Look!" one said. He tapped his buddy on the shoulder and pointed at Cayden's roof.

"Holy shit! Is that a robot?"

"What is it?" Cayden asked, slipping the gun back into the belt.

"Where's Mommy?" Cayden turned and saw David.

"Hey, David," he said quietly. "How 'bout you go back to bed, huh? Mommy wants well-rested little troopers."

"What about school?"

"Want to skip it?"

David pouted. "But I was meeting Carlo today!" he protested.

"Go back to bed, okay?"

"No!" David yelled. "I want Mommy!"

"Is Mommy back?" Danni asked from the doorway.

"Mommy says she's coming back soon," Cayden said. He had told maybe ten lies in the past year, and three of them had been told in the last two days. There was number eleven.

"Okay!"

"She wants you to draw her a picture. Can you guys do that?"

Twelve. "Sure!" David was happy again. He ran from the room, grabbing Danni's hand as she ran. "Let's draw a picture!"

Cayden shut the door after them. "What's on my roof?" he asked.

"It's like a giant metal bug!"

"Okay." Cayden took the gun and carefully stepped onto the roof. He stayed as close to the house as he could.

He looked up and saw the edge of a metal thing. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he whispered. He put the gun on top of the roof and grabbed the gutter in both hands. He kicked against the side of the house and pulled himself up into a bellyflop on his roof.

"I can see your underwear!" one of the kids yelled up to Cayden. he ignored them and pulled himself onto the roof. He grabbed the gun and stood up.

He saw the creature in all its glory. There were eight spindly metal legs connected to a giant metal ball with cameras sticking messily out of it. It looked like a high school robotics contest loser. _What is that thing?_

Cayden walked towards it, keeping the gun pointed at the ball, which he guessed would do more damage. From up close, it appeared just as useless as it had from a distance. But how had it gotten onto his roof?

Cayden lightly pushed it. It rocked back and teetered.

He pushed it harder and it toppled onto its side. It made a groaning sound, but Cayden ignored it. The underside of the robot was completely clear. There was nothing inside. It wasn't even a robot, but he could see cameras sticking out, filming him. He smiled at one of them. "Hi," he said.

There was an address carved into the metal, he realized. _If found, please return to 153 West Elm Street, Karamat, Colorado. Thank you._

If found? How could a metal shell move?

Cayden didn't take the robot down. He just awkwardly lowered himself down onto the roof.

"What is it?" the kid asked.

"I don't know," Cayden said.

"Let's go see!" the other kid said.

"Yeah!"

Cayden wondered how they would get up on his roof.

*****THIS IS A SCENE BREAK, NOT A NEW POV*****

Cayden knocked twice on the door to 153 West Elm Street. To his surprise, it opened and a girl that was thirteen or fourteen looked at him. "Do I know you?" she asked.

"Er, no."

"What are you doing here, then?"

"Um, there was… A metal… thing on my roof. And it said… you know, it said to return here."

"Musta been my daft old dad. You can trash it, it's just a piece of shit."

"There were, er, working cameras. I mean, the light was on," Cayden said.

"You can keep them."

"You… um, your dad doesn't want it back?"

"The adults are gone, man. Why would he want it back?"

"How did it get up there?"'

"Someone put it there, you idiot."

"But… who? And there was this vibrating noise, like an airplane."

"It does that. Musta been Jacob or Kira, they live by me, they like hiding my dad's stuff and don't care who gets in the way. It wasn't a personal attack. Good-bye."

"Wait! Is it dangerous?"

"It it an empty shell?"

"Yeah."

"Then, no. What could it attack you with?" The strange girl shut the door.

"Wait! What's your name!" Cayden yelled. The girl did not answer. She probably hadn't heard him, of course. He found it hard to believe that a grown man would build the contraption on the roof.

He decided to take it back to the girl's house in case something with the other two kids she had mentioned happened. He didn't want his house to be involved in it.

* * *

><p>"<strong>What do we<strong> do, boss?" Dimitri asked. Mark pressed his lips together, seeming to consider it.

"We need to tell the town kids who's boss. Strike them once and for all." Mark had been a natural leader at MWCTK, and now, he was taking charge over everyone who hadn't left when the cells opened.

"What does that mean?" Michael asked.

"We go down there and we take the town hall. We take over. If they fight, we kill them."

"No." Cort looked up at the boy who had spoken. He had been there for a while, but he never talked. Only one boy knew him. "We can't kill them because we just want to."

"Ah, we have a protestor! What's your name, my friend?"

"I'm Jason."

"Well, Jason, how would you like to demonstrate something for you? Make sure you pay attention! Jason, why don't you come up here?"'

Jason walked silently up to Mark. He had voiced Cort's feelings, and probably everyone's feelings, and he would pay for it.

"Kneel."

Jason knelt.

"I have a cool trick to show you," Mark said. He looked out at the crowd, but it seemed like he was just looking into Cort's eyes.

He raised his arm and brought it slicing down through the air. Jason screamed.

"I can cause a person simulated pain. Right now, Jason here feels like I just whipped his back." Mark raised his arm and brought it down again and again, and Jason just screamed. Then he stopped. "When I want to, I can instantly end the pain." He brought his hand in front of his face and snapped his fingers. "Does anyone have any other complaints about morals or should we discuss tactics?"

There was silence. Cort thought about speaking up as the sweaty mess of Jason got weakly to his feet and staggered away from Mark. "Great. Raise your hand if you know how to fight."

Cort did not raise his hand. He did not know how to fight, but over half of the kids claimed to know how to fight.

"What about you, Jason? Are you as pathetic as you look?" Jason was slumped against the wall, panting, his face buried in his arms.

"Yes, sir," Bryce said in a high-voiced taunt. Mark laughed and clapped.

"Very good, very good. What about you, Bryce, got any other talents than picking on those even weaker than yourself?"

"No, sir," Bryce said. Bryce was an interesting one. He had weaseled his ways into the bullies' ranks, despite being cut out as meat, and was now their sole source of entertainment.

"That's what I thought. The rest of you fighters, you'll be on the streets. Stay back so I can go over your assignments with you. Five of you non-fighters, you'll tell the fighters who to eliminate and who not to. The rest of you, you'll be my bodyguard.

"I can't fight!" a girl called Violet protested.

"You can take a bullet," Mark said. "You're not even too skinny." His head toady, Jackson, laughed, and the others took a hint. Cort managed some fake, choked laughter.

"You okay?" Dimitri asked him, sounding worried.

"Yeah, fine," Cort said, despite not feeling that way.

"You look a little pale," Nate said.

"I'm _fine,_" Cort insisted, not paying much attention to Nate.

"Got it," Dimitri said, winking at Nate. Nate winked back.

"Those of you who can't fight, go away. I want to see you in the dining hall in ten minutes. If you run, I will find you and I will make you wish I killed you."

Cort thought about running. He once again came to the conclusion that he would fail. He was determined to get revenge on Mark. If it took a year, so be it. He would do it.

"Come on, Cort," Jazzmin said, and Cort looked up. He realized that almost everyone had already left the hall.

"Okay," Cort said, following Jazzmin. Nate and Dimitri had already left.

"Do you think he was brave?" Jazzmin asked, pointing at Jason.

Cort shrugged. "He did seem brave. He was probably just an idiot though. Nobody in their right mind would take on Mark."

Jazzmin smiled. "You always think the worst of people."

"That's why I need you, you're so positive it's like a magnet."

"That was a really lame line." Jazzmin lightly took Cort's hand. "Good thing you've got me to help you think of some better ones."

Cort laughed. "You, think of good lines?"

"Hey, it's true. You've got me, no matter what happens."

* * *

><p>"<strong>What's up with<strong> the chaos?" Matt Neema asked, crossing to the window and pushing the thick curtains open. Cayan and Matt had walked all day to get to the house on the edge of town and had crashed. Now, they were preparing to face the world.

The house overlooked the square, and Cayan figured something must be going on. He walked over to the window and pushed Matt aside.

"Jesus," he said. "What the hell is going on down there?"

There were kids wearing the bright yellow jumpsuits of the correctional facility up the hill. They had guns and were pointing them at the crowd. One stood on a grocery carton as a stage and had a megaphone with ACE Hardware written on it.

Matt went to open the window, and Cayan stopped him. "No, man, those kids look like bad news. Close the curtains, lock the doors."

"We can run, though. Why be sitting ducks?"

"Charlie and Danny can't, though."

That shut Matt up. "My own siblings," he muttered. "I forgot my own siblings."

There was a gunshot, heard through the walls of the house. Cayan jerked his gaze back to the window. Nobody was hurt, although many were cowering, and it appeared to have been a warning shot. The leader was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"We need weapons, man," Cayan said.

"This place ain't exactly a hunting shop."

"Get the kitchen knives. I'll look for more. Make sure Charlie and Danny are out-of-sight."

"Think we're overreacting?"

"If nobody is dead in ten minutes, yes." Cayan realized that they were making the situation seem very bad. The hard part was, it was bad. Very bad. But Charlie and Danny had to be protected, couldn't know.

Cayan was not good at parenting.

Cayan looked in the closets and boxes, despite doubting that he would find anything. When he had finished with the bedroom he and Matt had slept in, he looked out of the window. He saw fighting among the kids. People shoved and punched each other randomly. It was Yellow Jumpsuits vs Other Clothes.

"Find anything?" Matt called up. "I locked the doors and shut the curtains. There's a ton of food in this place, too. I'd say we picked a good house to be trapped in."

"Glad to hear it."

"We're trapped?" Danny yelled from the other bedroom. Matt looked up at Cayan, confused. Cayan just shrugged.

"No, we're not trapped," Matt said. He was an excellent liar. "I was just joking with Cayan."

"Okay," Danny said.

"He'll be out like a light," Matt quietly told Cayan. Matt had climbed the stairs and Cayan was looking out the windows once again. There were people scattered around.

Most of them wore the yellow jumpsuits, Cayan thought with dismay. The asylum kids, or whatever they were. The one with the megaphone was yelling into it. Against his better judgement, Cayan opened the window a crack. _I'll close it after I hear what he's saying._

"People of Karamat! As you can see, resistance is futile and will be punished! As I said before, our terms are simple! We lead the town and your pitiful lives can go on! Clear the Town Hall!"

Cayan carefully closed the window. Who did he think he was, talking to the town like that? People would stop him, right?

But who?

Those who tried had been trampled. Somebody would have to, since he really doubted that there would be peace under yellow-jumpsuits.

"Jesus," Matt said. "He doesn't have a big ego at all."

Cayan laughed. "Nah, man, he's humble."

"How long do you think we can stay here?" Cayan asked after a pause.

"Well, we have supplies for a month."

"But how long can Charlie and Matt stay here before they figure out that something's wrong? How long can we lie to them?"

"Longer," Matt said. "We can't take an infant out there." He jabbed his thumb at the outside world. "We can't take a six-year-old out there."

"Matt, this is the _world_ now. Who knows for how long? We'll starve to death if we stay in here our whole lives!"

"Then go on. Leave. Go into the world," Matt said. "Look, I know we'll starve to death, but I gotta keep Danny and Charlie safe! They're my own siblings!"

"Maybe I will," Cayan said.

But he didn't.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank ya for reading!<strong> The infamous Questions are back after a one-chapter hiatus!

**Who here is reading this on their phones?**

**Will the kids from MWCTK take over the Dome?**

Stay tuned until next time, when The Fish Tank returns with everyone's least favorite character! (guess who…)


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